


Wonder of Wonders

by LeeMorrigan



Series: Diana's Memories and Dreams [4]
Category: DC Extended Universe, DCEU, DCU, Justice League (2017), WW84 - Fandom, Wonder Woman (Movies - Jenkins)
Genre: DCEU - Freeform, F/M, Greek Mythology - Freeform, In Snyder we trust, Patty Jenkins - Freeform, Steve's Back Baby, WW84, wondertrev
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-19
Updated: 2020-02-28
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:48:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22798825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeeMorrigan/pseuds/LeeMorrigan
Summary: When Selina Kyle finds something she thinks might be of great importance to one of Bruce's fellow League-members, she delivers the info to Bruce, who turns around and gives it to Diana. What she will descover at the coordinates will change her life.Third chapter mentions events from WW84, which I haven't seen so that is all guesswork based on interviews, the comics, and the trailer.
Relationships: Antiope & Diana (Wonder Woman), Diana (Wonder Woman) & Bruce Wayne, Diana (Wonder Woman)/Steve Trevor, Selina Kyle/Bruce Wayne
Series: Diana's Memories and Dreams [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/842634
Comments: 2
Kudos: 57





	1. Handwritten Notes

**Author's Note:**

> Triggers: We're going to the Underworld where the dead dwell, there is a flight in a helicopter, and swimming at great depths. I am not gory or too depressing about the description of the Underworld- if you could sit through the Disney cartoon about Hercules, you should be alright cause that was worse than what I'm going to do.

Diana walked into her apartment and noticed a small note waiting for her. It likely had been delivered via sliding it beneath the door. If not for the handwriting, she might have felt a bit ill at ease over it. Bruce Wayne’s neat, perfectly symmetrical, crisp writing was easily recognized, however.

Picking it up, Diana went about divesting herself of her heels, jacket, and other items until she was comfortably in only her loose slacks and blouse as she walked over the tiled floor of her kitchen, out towards the sofa in her living room. Her London apartment was larger than her Paris apartment, though slightly more modern in it’s architecture and furnishings.

The plush sofa allowed her to happily sink into it as she carefully tore open Bruce’s note. He was not usually one for hand-written, hand-delivered notes. Generally, for League business, she got a text or call. On one memorable occasion, Bruce had been waiting for her outside of her office at the Louvre. Victor had gone missing and Bruce had been concerned about the younger League member. Owing to Diana’s closer relationship with Victor, Bruce had come to her rather than straight out hunting Victor down.

_“Diana,_

_Recently, an old friend contacted me. This friend is a world traveler with a penchant for rare, expensive treasure and heaps of trouble. She has made me aware of a location that I believe requires the strength of a Goddess to enter. I will have a chopper waiting to pick you up tomorrow, at 10AM, at the East Bay docks. Please come?_

_-Bruce”_

She re-read the short message. Whoever it was who gave him the information must have been reliable, even with all those caveats he mentioned. She pulled out her phone and texted Bruce that she would see him tomorrow at 10. Sitting back, Diana wondered what they would find.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**Gotham City – Two Weeks Earlier**

Bruce sat behind his desk at the house, looking over some documents about a family-owned chain of restaurants in Gotham and two other locations. The family had been running these staples for over 50 years and had fallen on hard times between the health of the family matriarch and the death of one of the grandchildren who had been meant to take over the Gotham location, as well as some general financial woes that many Americans were feeling, had caused a good deal of trouble for the family and their companies.

As Bruce was about to pour himself another mug of Alfred’s tea, he smelled a familiar aroma. An expensive perfume he would know anywhere. Selina.

“I have very expensive security, yet it seems the most beautiful women I know will walk through it as if it were no more than a cheap party banner.”

Turning in his chair, he found Selina leaned against one of the bookshelves. She was as beautiful as ever. She had only been in her early 20s when they met, with him a few years older. Twenty years, several attempts on her life, and nine lives later, she had only grown more confident and beautiful. Those dark eyes met his own and she smiled, showing her perfectly white teeth.

“Hello, Bruce.”

He smiled.

“Hello, Selina.”

She prowled over to him, her body like liquid in motion. Sleek, powerful, seamless.

“Aren’t you going to ask what brings me back to Gotham, or to the old Manor- although, to be fair, this is hardly the grand old mansion of yore.”

He felt the one corner of his mouth twitch upward.

“No need to ask. You’ll tell me, if it’s interesting.”

She grinned at him.

“I knew there was a reason I liked you. Smart, observant.”

She came around his desk to sit on the edge, putting her long, shapely legs on perfect viewing display for Bruce. The knee-length pencil skirt and matching, form-flattering black shirt with a square-cute neckline and short sleeves, showed off miles of skin that she knew he ached to reacquaint himself with. Even her black hair, perfectly coiffed at the nape of her neck and the blood red lipstick, she still radiated danger.

“As you know, I’ve been traveling lately. Recently, I found something I thought might be of interest to you. Well, I lie. Not you, specifically. More to your friend, the Amazon. It’s Greek and I’m fairly certain it is a gateway to someplace she would very much be interested to see.”

Selina produced a small, folded piece of paper from under the belt of her outfit. She carefully slid the paper behind Bruce’s ear, then leaned down to kiss him. Playfully, at first. Then sensually, making his brain come to a screeching halt for several seconds. Only Selina had ever been able to do that.

When she pulled back, there was still only the space of a breath between them. Those dark hazel eyes looked back at him, mischief and something warm hidden in their depths. If he lived to be 1,000 years old, he was sure that Selina would still find ways to surprise him.

“I have a dig in Thebes to get to.”, she said in a low, sexy tone she knew did things to Bruce.

“Dinner, when I get back?”

He could never deny her. Not really.

“Sure. I’ll have Alfred lay in some of your favorites.”

She smiled as she stood.

“You spoil me.”

Selina walked out, stopping only when she reached the door. Her smile was less of the sexy, flashy one she used on marks and instead was the smaller, warmer one reserved only for those she trusted enough to tell the truth to.

“It’s good to see you, Bruce. For a while, Bruce had disappeared and been replaced by a great black bat of a man.”

With that, she left. Bruce considered her words. Before his fight with Clark, when Lois got between them and said something that caused his mind to erupt with more memories of that night in the alley all those years ago, than he had experienced in years prior. He had been becoming a monster. Someone he did not recognize and could not respect.

Pulling the note from behind his ear, Bruce read it. It had coordinates and a small note about the relic that had lead Selina to these coordinates. Her penmanship was top notch with enough flourish to suggest something of her personality. If her estimations about the relic and the location it pointed to, were correct, Diana would need to know straight away.

Bruce pulled up Alfred on the intercom system through the house. He was already formulating a plan and would need just a little help.

“Yes, sir?”

“Alfred, we’re going to London in the morning.”

“Very well. I’ll get to packing.”

“Probably just for a couple days, but be ready… in case.”

“Always am, Master Bruce.”


	2. Gateway

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce takes Diana to the coordinates provided to him by Selina. There, Diana makes the acquaintance of someone she has heard legends about all of her life, and he believes he owes her a gift or two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: Darkness, discussions of death/afterlife/family betrayal/war, near drowning in the dark, diving from great heights, mentions conditions on the fronts of WWI battlefields (but that's in passing).

Diana tugged her jacket a little closer as she stepped out onto the tarmac. A storm was threatening in the distant gray sky and Diana hoped they would finish this errand before the lightening reached them. She had no desire to have to save Bruce and a pilot from a watery grave. Stepping up to the area where the helicopter waited, Bruce stood next to it with his leather jacket and slacks, looking every inch the pilot.

“Good morning.”, she offered as she got closer.

“Mornin’.”

Diana looked over the helicopter. She preferred planes but there was a certain aura about the design of a helicopter, that she found intriguing.

“Ready to go?”

She nodded and hopped into the passenger seat. Bruce got in behind the joy stick and began gearing up the helicopter while Diana adjusted the headset over her ears and adjusted her seatbelt to be more comfortable. Within minutes, they were out over the ocean.

“Selina said these coordinates are supposed to lead to a doorway or treasure trove, depending whose interpretation you believed at her dig site.”

“Selina? I thought Selina was a burglar, not an archeologist?”, Diana questioned.

Honestly, Bruce had enough girlfriends, ex-girlfriends, old flames, old female friends, and female enemies, that Diana wouldn’t be surprised to learn he knew four women named Selina. The look on his face spoke of the complicated but deep relationship he had with the woman in question.

“She is a cat-burglar, for the most part. However, she does have some other interests. She’ll do other things till they bore her, then she’ll move along.”

“She give you any more details?”

“Greek, interesting- which is saying something, coming from her. She also said that it was labeled in such a way that made it seem like it was potentially quite dangerous. Which is why I won’t leave you, I’ll just hover around till you call for a pick-up. I brought a blow-up raft and can drop you and it so you can use the radar and other things back there.”

Diana nodded and waited. They were only a few minutes away from where he would drop her. There was a small channel of islands, where the water could be quite shallow in some places and treacherously deep in others. Once they were hovering over it, they would have only a bit of fine-tuning to get where they needed to be.

The chain of islands came into view and Diana smiled sadly. They reminded her of some of the barrier islands off the coast of Themyscira. Then again, many things near Greece and Italy, had reminded her of home. It still caught her off-guard every time.

“Give me another minute, I’ll have you over the place.”

They reached it, according to Bruce’s readings on the instrument panel, yet Diana felt it. There was something here. Something powerful, and old. Something that made her feel almost as she had when she was been standing next to Ares and when she had been handling the Lasso the first time.

“Forget the raft. I’m diving.”

“I have some equipment for that back there. Masks, tanks.”, Bruce said as he turned to see Diana stripping out of her jacket, shoes, and slacks to reveal a short-sleeved surf suit.

“I came ready.”, she commented into the microphone as she held the headset up to talk to him.

 _Of course she did_ , he thought.

“Here.”, she handed him her stuff for him to toss back in the back as she maneuvered herself into place for the dive.

Bruce wanted to panic. This was a jump far above what even he would consider making while wearing the full Batsuit. Granted, he wasn’t a demigoddess or an Amazon. He trusted Diana to know her limits. Tapping her shoulder, her offered what he could.

“Good luck.”

She nodded her thanks, then moved into the final position. She took a deep breath and then leapt from the helicopter, down to the churning waters below. Bruce checked the time and his location. If she got into trouble, he wouldn’t know. He had explained how long he could hover around the site, so Diana knew how long she had before he Bruce would have to leave to refuel and come back for her. If it came to that, he would call for the Batwing and have Alfred pilot it out and land the helicopter nearby.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Diana swam a good deal, directly downward towards the pull of… whatever it was that she could sense. In the dim of the deeper water, she had a hard time being able to make out any real details until, at least, she noticed what looked like some kind of doorway. Stone with runes etched in. Diana traced them with her fingers. Between the tactile and visual details, she could make out the instructions. This was one of many gateways to a place no sane person had ever wished to tread. The Underworld.

Pressing her fingers to the places instructed, Diana spoke the phrase of admittance and the stone door groaned. She could feel the vibration where she stood anchored to the gateway frame. The door moved, scarping dully across the stone encapsulating it, a rush of water dragging Diana downward into the pitch darkness.

The current tore at her, dragging her along. Diana tried to fight it. Tried to find purchase along the walls, worn smooth by hundreds of years of water. She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t see. Water rushed all around her, rapidly descending into the darkness that was ever more oppressive. Then, as suddenly as it tore her away, it halted, dumping Diana on her knees. The stone stung against her knees and the heels of her hands as she had reached blindly to break her fall.

Raising her head, Diana could make out a good number of details. It was not pitch black here but lit by torchlight throughout. It seemed to go on for ages. Where she knelt, there was a rectangle of stone that rose up almost like a small stage, with brackish water all around it, a slight mist rising up from the water so cold that Diana almost felt as if it were sapping her energy from her. The water reminded her of what ran along No Man’s Land and inside the trenches on poisoned battlefields in WWI.

About 50 feet from the edge of her stone stage, another hunk of stone rose up to form a raised dais above the black water. It appeared the water came from behind this dais and fell down around it, emptying into the area where Diana knelt, and then falling further away. She could hear it moving around beyond where the light went, almost as if out to another ocean.

Diana looked at the dais to see it had a stone pergola of sorts above a large thronechair of black stone that appeared to be crumbling around the edges. And sitting in that throne was a man whose face she knew as well as any child now might recognize a favorite superhero from a comic book or a cartoon character from their Saturday morning viewing. Hades.

He looked almost exactly as he had appeared in Hippolyta’s books. As tall as Bruce- if not a bit taller, with soft waves of dark hair now glistening with silver flecks throughout. His eyes were a stormy gray, far more dull in person than in Hippolyta’s books, with high cheeks and a weathered face that looked drawn, as if he had recently been ill and not yet fully recovered. Diana was struck by another difference in her recollection compared to the reality.

The Hades of her history lessons had been proud, defiant, a man to be obeyed in his lamented domain. The Hades who she knelt before, sat heavily in his thronechair. He still looked like a fit man of perhaps 40 years in age, with images of a three-headed dog on the shield at his left and on the thronechair’s decoration. This was not quite how she had pictured him, or how she imagined she might meet her uncle.

Bowing her head in respect, Diana waited to be recognized. She did not have to wait long before a smooth, deep voice spoke.

“Diana, daughter of Hippolyta- Queen of the Amazons of Themyscira, and Zeus- Godking of the Gods of Olympus, champion of mankind, princess of the Amazons, member of the Justice League.”

Looking up, she met his eyes. His face softened, a slight smile touching his lips.

“And my favorite niece. Come.”, he bid as he waved a hand to indicate that she should come closer.

Diana stood and as she moved to the edge of the stone stage she stood on, a stone rose from the water, right where she would have stepped out. Once she put a foot on it, another formed where her next step might have gone. She followed the rising stones until she was standing just in front of the dais Hades sat on. Up close, she could see the fine lines around the corners of his eyes and between his brows. It seemed, at least at one time, had smiled more than he scowled.

“How are you here?”, he asked.

“A friend of a friend, found the coordinates and some other information. My friend passed it along to me and flew me out to where I could jump down here and investigate this gateway for myself.”

Hades nodded, looking away in the distance for a moment. He let out a soft almost-laugh before looking back at Diana.

“You are just as Antiope describes.”

Diana’s eyes went wide and Hades smiled fondly.

“Yes. She speaks of you often, to any who will listen and many who try not to. The greatest Amazon she ever trained, a worthy successor to Hippolyta and Zeus, and a beloved niece who has made her aunt very proud.”

Diana felt tears stinging at her eyes. Antiope was proud of her. She had always ached to know if Antiope had any way to see what Diana had been doing since she left Themyscira and now she knew.

Hades let out another long sigh. She almost got the impression it was rather taxing on him to be having this conversation with her. Hippolyta had always describes Hades as being a bit melancholy at times, though she had also said he was keen and observant to the point of being annoying.

“Diana, I am glad you have come. Because of the war with my nephew, I had to stay here, to maintain this place and the barrier between the Living and the Dead, and I was unable to attend your presentation ceremony.”

Diana understood. Someone as powerful as her mother, would always invite dignitaries and such to the Presentation. It was something akin to a Christening of a Christian-Monarch born to Christian royal parents. A chance for anyone vying for favor, to bring gifts to the new babe and to put on their best attire. Diana being the daughter of Zeus, it would not have been unexpected for at least Hades and Poseidon to have put in an appearance.

“As such, I owe you a gift. I owe you two things, actually.”

Now Diana was confused. The Presentation gift, she understood. He was her uncle, she was a demigoddess and royal daughter. Her confusion must have shown as Hades chuckled to himself as he rose from his seat. Diana fault the urge to reach out and steady him as he seemed to move like the weight of the world rested solely on his shoulders.

“When you arrive home, you will find my gifts waiting for you. They are a bit large to carry out of here through the gateway.”

Diana smiled with a nod.

“Thank you, Lord Hades.”

“You’re wondering why I say I owe you two gifts.”

A statement, not a question.

“Yes.”

He nodded, moving to stand behind his thronechair, seeming to lean on it a a bit to stay upright.

“When the War with Ares broke out, my brother left me here. There were three of us whom he could not afford to lose to Ares’s wrath. The Gateway between the living and the dead must be maintained, at all costs. I was hidden away here, to keep the Gate, while my nieces and nephews battled beside my brothers against Ares…and together, they were not enough to rid the world of him forever. They only weakened him. You, dear niece, did what the lot of them could not achieve. For that, you are deserving of a great reward. In ages past, you might have had your likeness painted in a constellation, or been granted full godhood. In these times, however, a more practical gift is called for.”

He smiled up at her.

“Your Aunt offered some input. Defeating a god is a great labor deserving of a reward, Diana. Do not try to defend your actions and deflect my gifts.”

“Thank you.”

It occurred to her that Antiope and Menalippe had always described Hades as if he were an old friend rather than a shadowy, frightful character. Perhaps, with all the time they spent on battlefields, he had become an old friend to them.

Hades met her gaze again, his smile still tired but kind. There was an unexpected warmth to him. Diana supposed that it was as Antiope described him. A caring, passionate man tricked into a job no one wanted and determined to do it so well that no one else would be able to do it. A man who granted the mercy of peace to soldiers in agony on the field of battle and to those so ill or aged that life held only pain for them.

“You have questions, niece. I can see it in your eyes.”

“Yes. How is Antiope?”

His smile widened.

“She is well. She trains with her sisters who preceded her to these halls. She keeps tabs on you, her sister Hippolyta, her friends in Themyscira, and her wife, Menalippe. She bid me to give you a message, should you ever find your way here. She wished for me to tell you that she is proud of you, dear niece, and that she thinks you are the finest Amazon she ever trained- which between you and I, niece, is saying something. She misses you, your mother, and her Menalippe- and she knows that, someday, you will all be together again, drinking and bragging of your great deeds. It will please her to see you again, but only a very, very long time from now when your battles are all done and in the past.”

She nods, her mind whirling a bit.

“Lord Hades, is Steve here?”

His smile fell.

“The soldier was a Christian, Diana.”

Diana nodded, understanding. He would have had no place in Hades’ domain. Hades moved closer to her, handing her a small box. He gestured for her to open it and Diana did. Inside, there was a small dagger in a leather sheath.

“It is especially dangerous against a god. It isn’t a godkiller, though it will give you an edge, should you ever encounter the likes of Ares, ever again. It is not impossible for him to find a way to rise again. He was a god.”

“Thank you, Uncle.”

Hades smiled more brightly at her. His eyes moved over her features, as if trying to memorize her.

“You look so much like your mother when she was younger, and like my brother.”

“Thank you for the gift, and the messages.”

“You wish to ask me to care for your aunt. Do not fear, niece. She is nearly a goddess here, with so many in awe of her. She races beside the likes of heroes whose images can be found in the stars. She will be well while she waits for you all to join her someday.”


	3. Diana's Gifts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Diana learns what her gifts are.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Triggers: More talking about Hades, post-death experiences, and Diana's experience the night Steve died/she defeated Ares.

As they flew back to the mainland, Bruce studied Diana out of the corner of his eye as she sat in the navigator’s seat. She was quiet and thoughtful. Neither were unusual for her. The weight of sadness was not new. The way she looked as if she wanted to tear something apart, however, was new and concerning. She had said very little about the find in the sea. Bruce could wait. Diana would not withhold information that could be dangerous if not-shared.

Bruce soon landed and was checking over the systems for the helicopter. He pretended not to notice how Diana had not moved, or even directed her gaze away from the windshield. She was as still as the statues she restored in Paris. Bruce filled out the paperwork he would need to turn in at the office, with a quick note about the handling in the wind.

“It was Hades.”

Bruce paused. Looking over, he saw Diana still staring straight ahead, unmoved.

“Pardon?”

“Hades, my uncle. The coordinates were the gateway to his domain. Buried away from mankind for millennia. He was not so stately as I would have expected from my mother’s tales or her books. He looked older and… almost broken.”

Looking over at Bruce, she offered a small smile.

“He reminded me of someone else I know.”

Bruce didn’t need a flashing neon sign to figure out who she meant.

“Did he speak with you?”

She nodded.

“He said he owed me two gifts. One for my Presentation- the Amazonian Christening of a royal child, so to speak. And that he owed me one for defeating Ares. For doing what no god had been able to do in the past. A champion is deserving of a prize.”

Bruce considered this. What gift would Uncle Hades have given his niece.

“I was told they would be waiting for me at home.”

“Maybe he got you a Pegasus.”, Bruce tried to tease, wishing to lift her spirits.

Diana smiled slightly.

“I miss my horse from Themyscira. Maybe he sent her to me.”

He nodded.

“That would make a handsome gift, although you may need to have your apartment professionally cleaned if there’s a horse in there.”

“True. Maybe he left me an item of his own.”

Pulling out a knife, she showed it to Bruce. It looked ancient, of Greek design.

“He said it will cause more damage to a god than a normal blade but is not exactly a god-killer. That, should Ares ever rise again, this would give me another layer of protection against him.”

“That sounds like a nice gift.”

“It is.”

She tucked the weapon back into her bundle of dry clothes she held in her lap. Bruce found he was slightly less worried, now that she was talking and moving. He was concerned what might await her upon her return to her apartment.

Neither spoke as he went to turn in the paperwork and such to the helicopter. Diana stood by his side, uncharacteristically still, as he spoke with the office manager and as they left. It was not until they reached her car that Diana perked up a bit.

“Maybe he gave me a way to visit home. A portal, of sorts.”

“That would be excellent. You could go home whenever you pleased.”, Bruce agreed.

He would love to see his friend being able to travel back and forth between home and man’s world. As lonely as he often felt, he could only imagine how isolated she must have felt. Clark, in a way, had been luckier than Diana. Clark did not remember Krypton or the parents who jettisoned him to safety in the stars. Diana had spent years, possibly centuries, living among people who she had now been completely separated from for over a century. She had watched everyone she had met in those first days in Man’s World, as they died one by one while she remained seemingly untouched by time.

“Promise me that you’ll send me a message and let me know if you liked the gift?”

Diana smiled. Bruce was not fooling her. He was concerned the gift might be dangerous. A trick, trap, or even just something terribly upsetting to Diana. She appreciated her friend’s caring.

“I will let you know. Have a safe journey back to Gotham, Bruce.”

He smiled, almost enough to show teeth.

“I’ll see you at the next League roundtable.”

She winked before turning to her car. The next meeting was only a little over a week away. Perhaps, if her gift was a trip to Themyscira, she would have to make sure she had returned in time for the meeting.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

She was cautious as she neared her apartment. Pulling her sword, she readied herself for anything. Hades had been, according to her mother, one of the biggest dissenters against Ares. However, ages alone could change a person. Diana knew this personally and from seeing it in her friends.

Carefully, she unlocked and opened the door for her Parisian apartment, letting the door swing open slowly. She had taken only two steps when she was hit with a familiar scent. Gun powder, leather, mud, and campfire coffee. Instantly, her eyes threatened to water. Her nose had to be lying to her, she was sure.

Diana stepped forward into her apartment. The windows were closed. Her lights were on, which was itself odd as she left hers off when she was not home. Then, she heard footsteps. Heavy ones. Booted feet, walking slowly. Diana poised for an attack.

“Hello?”

Diana nearly dropped her weapon as she heard that voice. A voice she had not heard in a century. Rounding the corner to enter her kitchen, Diana saw him. 6ft tall, dark brown hair peppered with silver. Tan winter coat over a uniform for an army that existed only in history books and nightmares. His boots still holding mud from Veld, his skin still scented of the campfire coffee in Veld and the airfield he died in. But it was the eyes. All else could have been a lie but not the eyes. Brilliant, unearthly blue and still the warmest, kindest eyes Diana had ever stared into.

“Steve?”, she whispered.

“Diana? How? Where am I?”

She didn’t answer him. Instead, she ran forward into his chest, wrapping him tightly in her arms. She felt his long, warm arms wrapping around her just as snug. She melted into him. For 100 years, she had longed for him to be solid and… him. Thirty-six years ago, she had gotten a small taste of what it would be like to have him back, only for it to be snatched away from her.

Stepping back, she looked him up and down. Steve returned the gesture, though his eyes hovered over her face for longer than hers had over his. She was struck by how he was solid. He was real.

“What’s the last thing you remember?”, she asked.

He considered for a moment, his tongue darting out to wet his lower lip in a gesture she remembered well.

“I remember the plane, pulling my gun to… ignite the weapon. Then a flash of light and a… cave, I suppose. There was a woman, blonde with blue eyes and a proud stance. She seemed familiar but I couldn’t place her. She smiled and told me that I had another mission, and that she had to give me something for the mission. She called me a Navigator, I remember that. Then, I was here. You’ve got photos of me here and there were lots of photos of you in various places.”

Diana smiled.

“The blonde, was she in armor and had a scar here?”, Diana indicated a line across her upper right arm.

Steve nodded.

“Antiope, my aunt. The one who died… the day we met, on the beach.”

He nodded.

“Yes. I knew that I knew her somehow, I just… I couldn’t even recall my name at that moment, for some reason. It was confusing. Diana, what did she mean about a mission? How am I here?”

“After you died, I killed Ares. Then, in the early 1980s, I met a man who had extraordinary powers, gifted to him by a terrible being. One of these powers allowed him to mind-control me, to an extent. I thought I was seeing you and interacting with you, and in a way, it was you. But everyone else would have seen a woman talking to thin air. When we defeated him and his overlord, my image of you disappeared. You were gone again. I’ve joined a group of Heroes, and together we battle the likes of people you have never imagined. One of the members of this team, Bruce, my friend, he learned of a place I needed to visit and he took me there. It was a gateway to Hades- my uncle and his domain. He said he owed me a gift for defeating Ares and he owed me a Christening gift, and that I would find my two gifts waiting for me at home.”

Looking around, Steve seemed to have a few bells ringing.

“She said my mission was to guide and care for the Princess.”

He looked up, his eyes bright and a smile forming.

“You. Princess of Themyscira.”

She nodded.

“Antiope had a tendency to refer to me, affectionately, as The Princess, when she spoke to others about me.”

“How was I supposed to guide you? I’m out of place and time here, and you’re far more educated than I ever was.”

“We’ll figure that out later, Steve.”

She leaned forward, kissing him soundly. It took him only a quarter of a second to catch up, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her back.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The League’s Roundtable meeting was supposed to start in a few hours. Diana had not let Steve out of her sight since his return. They had gone to get him outfitted with some new clothes and shoes, she had gotten him a new watch to wear, as well as a basic flip phone to get him started on understanding current communication technology. They got groceries and went to a few museums, to let Steve have a chance to soak in some of the changes. They had discussed Cheetah- or Barbara Minerva as Diana preferred to think of her, Maxwell Lord, and his puppet master who tricked him into aiding the terrible creature against Diana. Steve had discussed his few memories, all of which were fading to the point he barely remembered anything after the flash of light, until he was standing in Diana’s living room.

Now, as they headed towards the plane they would be taking to Gotham city, Diana watched him admiring the craft. The way he brushed his fingers across the smooth, glossy surface of the wing to the way his mouth hung open slightly as he gaze upon the engines. It wasn’t the newest plane. Some might even call it an antique. Diana had always liked this model and when she was able to get one for she and Steve to fly to Gotham, she could not resist. She had thought Steve would also like it.

“This is beautiful. How old is she?”

“About 30 years old.”

“Doesn’t look it.”

“Well, not to you. I remember when she was new and there were tons just like her, everywhere.”

Steve admired the plane for a moment longer before following Diana around to the steps so they could board. Once inside the cockpit, Steve smiled at the joystick and then looked over at Diana. She nodded, moving over to the navigator’s seat. Steve took the pilot’s chair and slipped in almost effortlessly. He was at home at a helm.

Together, they went through the pre-flight sequence and readied the plane. Several minutes later, they were in the air. Steve was grinning ear to ear. Diana would never, ever tire of that smile.

“Do we have time to play around a bit?”

“Sure.”

Steve adjusted their course, his smile dropping a bit. Diana felt a shift in the air. The hairs at her nape stood tall and her chest felt a bit pressed. For a moment, she felt as if she were once more trapped while Steve completed his suicide mission over heard.

“Steve?”

“Yes?”

“Where are we going?”

“I don’t know. Give me a minute.”

Part of her wanted to send them straight back to the ground. Another part of her recalled the words he paroted of Antiope’s. There was no way Antiope would have allowed him to be a threat to Diana, and despite the events while she was under Maxwell Lord’s mind-control, she still held her faith that Antiope was somehow still looking out for her.

They headed into a cloud, a bit of a storm seeming to threaten at the edge of her vision. Then they were totally encased in the cloud, surrounded by nothing by white. And, just as suddenly, they were in a crystal blue sky the likes of which Diana had not seen in over a century. The air was so clear. The water below, so blue and clear. Suddenly, there in the brilliant blue water, stood an island she had dreamed about since the day she had left it.

“Themyscira?”, she whispered as she leaned forward in the cockpit.

“You’re home.”

Turning to look at Steve, Diana was confused.

“How?”

“I remembered as we were coming through the clouds. The voice I heard, before your aunt showed up, had said that you needed to be the bridge between worlds. And that bridges had to have support and they had to have navigators.”

She looked between her home and her lover. It settled in her mind, at last. Steve would bring her to a portal she had not known of, allowing her to travel back and forth between the world that had molded her and the world she had left to protect. At last, she could travel back and forth between the Amazonian home and the world of Mankind.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Bruce looked down at his phone, reading Diana’s last message from several days ago. He had told her to let him know if she liked her gift and if she was safe. She had kept her word. He re-read the text she had sent ** _. I very much like my gift._** Simple, to the point.

Looking over at the rest of the League, Bruce could feel how antsy they were. They knew Diana did not miss meetings for no reason, or arrive late. The meeting was supposed to have started almost half an hour ago. Arthur, Clark, Barry, and Victor had been aware of Diana’s trip with Bruce and of her meeting her uncle. Diana had not minded them knowing. The newer members were only aware Diana had gone on a smaller mission with Bruce, and that it seemed to have worried the senior members.

Bruce was just about to excuse himself to call Diana, and hit the button on his computer to track her, when he felt his phone vibrate. He looked. He had a new text from Diana’s number. He unlocked the phone quickly and read the message. I just got my second gift- I can travel home whenever I please. Am visiting, sorry about the meeting. I will be back in a few days.

Re-reading it, he smiled. “ _Good for you, Diana_ ”, he thought as he typed a quick response. **_Diana, please don’t rush. We will be here when you return. Saver this and when you come back, be prepared for Barry’s excited pleas to join you on your next trip._** Once he was done typing, he looked up at the other League members.

“It appears Diana found a way to get home. She’ll be back in a few days.”

Collectively, the League appeared to have lost their minds. Alfred, as he walked in, smiled over to Bruce and brought drinks in for everyone.

“I’ll have to remember to ask her for her former tutor’s recipe for baklava, when she returns. She had said it was better than anything she had ever tasted here.”

Leave it to Alfred to take world-changing information in and go straight to the human element. Bruce smiled.

“I will try to remind you.”

“Thank you, Master Bruce.”

Arthur erupted in laughter.

“Diana went to Paradise Island, where the Amazons all still live, and you guys are talking about pastries?”

Barry spoke up.

“All women? I bet they still do the Olympic games!”

Victor shared a quiet smile with Bruce from across the table. Diana was home, and once she had visited, she would come back to them.


End file.
